December 7, 2011

... a federal appeals court in April declared the death sentence unconstitutional, ruling that the jury instructions at Abu-Jamal's original 1982 murder trial were unclear.

And prosecutors have decided not to redo the sentencing phase with a new jury and appropriately clear instructions. The murder conviction stands:

Witnesses testified that Abu-Jamal shot Faulkner in the back and head after the officer pulled his brother over during a late-night traffic stop. He was wounded in the encounter and later confessed to the killing, according to other testimony.

73 comments:

Since it was unlikely he would ever be executed, I suppose this is for the best. At least now the ignorant elitist types from Hollywood, the music industry, academia, and ice cream will have to move on to another stupid cause.

(The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew)The prosecutors are cowards. Hold another trial on sentencing. If they're going to have the death penalty in Pennsylvania, then carry it out as MAJ deserves it

Cutting your losses AND sparing the widow…I mean it’s unlikely that we will execute MAJ ever, or in anything like a “timely” manner, whereas we can find him guilty and incarcerate him, with far less trouble, and we get some “closure” for his widow and don’t have to drag the case and the pain and uncertainty on for an indefinite time.

(Editor’s Note: this author opposes the Death Penalty, even for Hitler, so I am prejudiced to agree with this decision.)

Proof the legal system is corrupt. Judges are simply incapable of defending rationaility and truth against leftist political attack.

And I disagree this is for the best. The PR army masquerading as lawyers will move on to another case where catastrophic results are far more likely. It would have been better had they continued to waste their time on this.

And further, the "he'll remain in prison for life" is not factual. Once the Supreme Court rules the death penalty unconstitutional it will take approximately 4 seconds for the anti-justice complex to dedicate itself to having life without parole sentences declared unconstitutional as well.

Ann Althouse said...The death penalty brought him intense attention, and now he will fade away. Much less drama than killing him. I say it's for the best.===============In perhaps another 5 years, we will have our "majestic" justice system finally obtain a death penalty verdict against KSM, the 9/11 Mastermind.Then he will become the patron cause of all sorts of conspiracists that will ignore the evidence, and liberals arguing he should not face death because he was Toooooooorrrrtttttuuuuuuurrrrred!

After 10-15 more years of Rule of Law(yers) appeals, or as a result of agreeing with Jihadis in hostage negotiations - KSM will be freed or given a life sentence with extra amenities.

Upon which, those in favor of Rule of Law(yers) will argue it is for the best, as putting KSM would have been controversial and dramatic. Best let KSM and all the "tragic events" fade away.

"The death penalty brought him intense attention, and now he will fade away. "

Well, maybe. It may be time for a lawyerly tour de force, where they get him off with time served. And on the other hand, you don't hear much regretful attention to Tookie Williams thee days, and he was both a Nobel Nominate and a Children's Author. "All the dead are dead alike."

(The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew)What happened to America being the bestest nation that ever existed or ever will exist on this earth?

It's our Constitution and our Bill of Rights--and only them--that give us any claim at all to representing an improvement on other nations or previously existing forms of government.

I guess you don't really care for that which distinguishes America from that which we were founded to supersede

Cookie, I oppose the Death penalty, but what are you saying, here? The Death Penalty IS CONSTITUTIONAL…the 5th Amendment, “…nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…”Obviously the Founders felt killing people was “OK.”

He was a murderer Norman Mailer befriended while working on his Gary Gilmore book. Mailer told the Board of Corrections this fiend had "the makings of an important and powerful American writer."

So the parole board released this maniac.

He went to Manhattan.

There, he went on Good Morning America with Mailer. He hung out with Kurt Vonnegut. The NYT editorialized favorably about him. Top agent Scott Meredith signed him to a book deal. Top people at Random House literally toasted him with champagne.

Then one day, a few weeks out of prison, he asked a NYC waiter if he could use the restaurant's bathroom. The waiter said no. So Abbott, of course, stabbed him to death.

I don't know whether this Mumia is a psychopath/sociopath, but I just read about Abbott last night in the book "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson. These people cannot be cured. They will strike again if released.

Worst of all, the percentage of psychopaths in executive suites (and presumably high government offices) is 4-5 times higher than in the general population.

Now he'll be the proof that lies repeated loud enough and by enough celebrities will become truth.

I don't think so. He was spared due to procedural issues, not the facts.

It used to be the mainstream Philadelphia media and Democrats treated him like a political prisoner. No more. That said, I would have liked to have seem him executed, just to make up for the decades of hell he and his supporters put his widow through, and for lying to the world.

This is good for President 0. A retrial of the penalty during 2012 would have caused a lot of 0's supporters in Hollywood and the media to say stupid things about Amerikkkan justice, thereby reminding voters about 0's former associates.

He never testified, and the defense simply argued it was not him. Implied it was his brother. In the 30 years since the trial, and all of the media attention, honors and his own feaking radio show, he never gave his side of the story.

He shot a man in the head for doing the job of protecting his fellow citizen. Ever since that act he has lived better than most elderly, handicapped, or homeless, maybe even better and longer than he would have if he never did that vicious, cold, selfish act to another human being.

Yes, that's justice. How evolved you death penalty opponents must feel. You are why this man was essentially rewarded for murdering that officer. It's repulsive.

(The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew) Yes, that's justice. How evolved you death penalty opponents must feel. You are why this man was essentially rewarded for murdering that officer. It's repulsive

Yeah because the Prison System is a REWARD…I mean I commit one to two felonies per week, just in hopes of getting sentenced to prison, because of the food, and cable TV…Please dood/doodette get a grip!

Joe said... (The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew)"Just lower the convicted into the cell block and pull up the rope."

--isn't

I didn’t really consider that to be a REALISTIC policy option or prescription….more along the lines of hyperbole.

yeah, more than a huge amount of sarcasm. Cookie has problems with context and analysis

However, a theory from the anti-death penalty viewpoint when discussing cold blooded cop-killers or mass-murders, is that sentencing them to death is that "life without parole" would avoid creating martyrs and these killers could just be filed away out of sight, out of mind. that is somewhat similiar to the Roman approach, minus the 8th amend part.

Imagine sitting in a room with the cop's family, and this guy across that room laughing at you for believing him. That room is here, you just can't see the walls. Now tell them why he deserves all the free amenities of life he's been granted for as long as he lives. Tell them how their loved one just had the bad luck of being a good guy, and they die for that, but we don't want to soil our fine morals by punishing the bad guy. And no, as I described above, he has not, and will not be punished.

(The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew) but we don't want to soil our fine morals by punishing the bad guy. And no, as I described above, he has not, and will not be punished

Yeah because Death Row is a veritable VACATION Spot, no punishment, no sirree, none whatsoever…I’ve been thinking about killing and eating “J” as a two-fer, a Public Service to you guyz and a chance for me to get a nice cushy spot on Death Row…Bagoh20 you’re losing it here…Prison is NOT “not punishment” and prison FOREVER surely isn’t “no punishment.”

He lives better in prison than 90% of humanity. He's a freaking celebrity. He'd likely be dead by now if he was not caught, but keep telling yourself he got justice. Tell his family, tell his ghost how it's all fair and worked out just the way it should.

(The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew) He lives better in prison than 90% of humanity. He's a freaking celebrity

Well then let’s just ship him to Haiti, then…I tell you what bagoh20 you let me put YOU in a cell 23 hours a day, with no human contact, because Death Row/Lifers DON’T interact with the population, and I’ll visit you in about 25 years, you can tell me how WONDERFUL it is….

He killed a man for serving the public. Shot him twic, stole him from his family forever. "Took everything he has and everything he's ever gonna have".

No, I don't think prison including getting married, having sex, cell phones, books reading and writing, having friends, fathering children, notoriety, etc., etc is punishment. What exactly are we taking away that is adequate justice for murdering a man in cold blood?

" I’ll visit you in about 25 years, you can tell me how WONDERFUL it is…."

I'll have stories to tell, experiences, probably a few kids. We can discuss movies we've both seen. Of course, while you were working to survive, I was reading and watching TV, so I probably have more to talk about, hell, I probably had more sex too.

Then you can go visit Faulkner and see what's he's been up to all these years.

bagoh20 said..." I’ll visit you in about 25 years, you can tell me how WONDERFUL it is…."

I'll have stories to tell, experiences, probably a few kids. We can discuss movies we've both seen. Of course, while you were working to survive, I was reading and watching TV, so I probably have more to talk about, hell, I probably had more sex too.

Then you can go visit Faulkner and see what's he's been up to all these years.=================Well said. Crypto Jew is invested in Talmudic justice (no death penalty, endless due process, big paychecks for the lawyers).

Me, I favor the "swift and sure" model that was fine until it was perverted away in the 1960s for the Talmudic model.

I also have no doubt that on occasion, vigilantism or the likes of Obama's "summarily execute, do not capture" order on bin Laden serves justice better than a pack of lawyers does. Imagine if the pervert John Couey in Florida had lived 100 years ago - he would have been whipped to an inch of his life, castrated, then slow-hanged from a tree while set on fire. As was, he got two million in legal costs paid by the taxpayer, 180,000 for a medical condition, then died peacefully while jacking off to porn in his prison cell.

This is the best outcome. There should be no death penalty for a standard cop killing. It was awful and brutal, but it was ordinary. And the death penalty must be reserved for truly extraordinary capital crimes that shock the conscience.

We haven't executed anyone in Pennsylvania for many years, so in a way this may work out for the best. Life in PA means life. He wasn't going to be executed; he is in for life; the big cause celebre has deflated down to a footnote; and I won't have to walk through Free Mumia rallys a few times a year.

We seem to have a consistent policy on the death penalty in this country. We execute people who (a) are convicted of particularly horrific murders and (b) have bad lawyers. One out of two is not enough.

"... It was awful and brutal, but it was ordinary. And the death penalty must be reserved for truly extraordinary capital crimes that shock the conscience..."

I'm sure it shocked the conscience of the dead cop's wife, but so what right?

You have to wonder about that poor woman whose husband is dead by this scumbag's hands only to see his murderer become some international celebrity. Hopefully Mumia will die of some slow wasting illness.

Mad -- No. I don't think killing a police officer -- even in such a disgusting, cold-blooded way as Abu-Jamal did -- merits the death penalty.

The death penalty should be reserved for extraordinary capital crimes that shock the conscience and are beyond the pale of human decency. That's my standard.

It is simply not extraordinary, or conscience-shocking, or beyond any pale that someone would shoot a cop.

I also think the standard for guilt in death penalty cases should be much higher -- amounting to nearly unquestionable certainty. And I think a special jury should be convened for purposes of sentencing only after guilt is found. And I think anyone potentially subject to the death penalty should be offered the finest criminal defense lawyers anyone could have at no cost.

The reason for greater penalties for killing cops is not because it shocks the conscience, but because it attacks the State, and is therefore a greater threat to basic order, its most important purpose,

I would give up the standard of awfulness if capital defendants could be guaranteed the several substantially improved procedural safeguards I mentioned.

I think what's really a threat -- a moral threat -- is the possibility that we would use the force of the State to kill innocent people, within the confines of our peaceful society no less. That is a risk we must not abide.

There was a controversy in Boswell's LoJ in which an Anglican priest, tutor of a young peer, was executed for forging his name to cosign a loan. They took commercial sins seriously back then and likely had fewer of them.

I've wrestled with the death penalty in my conscious for years, decades even. I have finally come to the conclusion that as a Catholic that I cannot condone the execution of another human.

As I do not approve of abortion, how can I approve of killing someone later in their life?

Execution does not bring the murdered person back from the dead. It doesn't provide solace for the people left behind. All it does is feed a persons feelings for revenge.

An execution is murder, plain and simple. Cold blooded murder committed by the state. Lacking even the defense of temporary insanity, it is dehumanizing to our society.

On the other hand, prison should not be a "Club Fed", and really most aren't. And no parole means NO PAROLE period, dot, end of sentence.

The anecdote earlier in the thread points out a serious flaw in the parole system. If you're in prison for life, and have a "come to Jesus" moment, fine. I'm happy for you. But I can't see into your heart so you still get to sit in prison till you die. If you did find Jesus, He'll still be waiting for you.

I'm still working on self defense, and defense issues. I'm leaning towards temporary insanity in these cases as a valid defense. In a bang, bang situation who can predict how they will react.

I think the death penalty is wrong, and then their is the idiocy of the state condemning the taking of a human life by taking a human life.

OTOH the president, in his opinion, has the right to kill American citizens abroad because he does not like what they are saying. If MAJ were shipped off to Yemen, would 0 order the CIA to take him out?

Sorry, I think you're getting confused between "simple" and "simplistic". I really don't understand what goes wrong with the thinking process that can't distinguish between an innocent fetus and people like Mumia.

Ann Althouse said... The death penalty brought him intense attention, and now he will fade away. Much less drama than killing him. I say it's for the best.

I agree. I don't think he'll totally fade away, but the whole thing is less "sexy" without death being on the line.

It is amazing how much time they still spend talking about Mumia on WBAI (that's your NY public anti-white anti-Jew anti-Israel station). They treat him like a hero. They never talk about the fact that he has never, in all the hearings and post-conviction hearings, testified, or otherwise told his "side" of the story. His brother, who was present (he is the one Faulker pulled over) has also never testified.

If you're interested, there's a good book by his widow and Steven Smerconish about this matter, including excerpts from witness statements etc. He and his wife were married for one year when this happened. He killed Faulkner, and ruined his wife's life.